Refrigerator.



Patented lan. I6, |900.

M. WILLETT.

REFRIGERATUR.

(Application filed Sept. 7, 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Model.)

witnesses:-

No. 641,35I. Patented lan. I6, |900.

M. WILLETT. v REFBIGERATOR.

(Applicatonlled Sept. 7, 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

witnesses 1H; ohms Penas zo. Mummwo, wAsmno'rcN, u. n:

' In devices heretofore constructed of this typev the air has not beenproperly conducted to UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

MICHEL VVILLETT, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OE ONE-HALF TOCHARLES WILKINSON, OF SAME PLACE.

`alarmeERATol-fe.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent'No. 641,351, dated January16, 1900.

Applioationiiled September 7,1897. Serial Nol 650,766. (No modell) To@ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MIoHEL WILLETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, ofwhich the following is a specication.

My invention relates to refrigerators wherein the air within the same iscaused to circulate directlyv from the storage-chamber up to and throughthe ice of the ice-chamber and back tothe storage-chamber, thus coolingthe air by direct contact with the ice instead of by radiation andcausing a marked variation of temperature to provide an activecirculation of cold air Within the storage-chambers.

the ice-chamber from the storage-chamber or to the storage-chamber fromthe ice-chamber, and the latter has not been properly protected againstthe suction and surging of the for correcting said defectiveconstruction and improving such devices, as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a transverse vertical section,and Fig. v2 a.

central longitudinal vertical section, of a refrigerator embodying myinvention.

` The Walls A of the refrigerator are made in a suitable manner withdead-air spaces a and Ct therein, the former, a, extending up the sidesonly and the latter, a', extending upon the inner sides thereof and alsoacross the top of the refrigerator-casing.

Along the side Walls B of the refrigerator are placed studding b andZ7', the studding b at the four end corners of the storage-chamber Cextending from the floor up to thetop of the storage-chamber to supportthe ends of cross-beams D, one at each end of the chamber, upon whichthe ends of the strips forming the ice-grating F of the icechamber Erest, and are secured at equal graduated distances from each other. Theintermediate studding b' extends up to the full height upon the sides ofthe refrigerator, and awall 6o or casing h, secured to the inner edgesof the studding b', provide side passages H forthe air to pass from theupper end of the storagechamber to the top of the ice-chamber, and thesaid Wall or casing is then continued over the ice-chamber at h toprovide horizontal air-passages H' over the ice-box. The airpassages Hextend from the side passages H to the middle part of the top cover tothe icechamber and to a central longitudinal aper- 7o4 ture I therein,extending from one end to the other of the refrigerator, which serves toadmit the air which has passed through the said side and topair-passages into the ice-chamber at the central portion and throughoutthe entire length thereof, to be thus distributed evenly over the entireupper surface ofthe body of ice within said chamber, and then passdownwardlythrough the sanneand around all sides of each blockv of iceand thence out in 8o an evenly-distributed manner through the grating inthe iioor of the ice-box.; To checlr` and better regulate the passage ofair through the grating and to carry off thedrip-Water, I provide twopans K, which extend from one end of the storage-chamber to the otherthefull length of the grating and from the side Walls to points at suitabledistances from the central longitudinal line thereof, as clearly shownin Fig. 1. o

The outer sides of the pans are hinged at 7c' to the side Walls vorstudding at the upperend of the storage-chamber to hold the outer sidesof said pans in close proximity to the bottom of the said grating, andthe inner sides of the said pans K are ladj ustably connected by hooks7a2, secured to the end Walls of the storage-chamber, which engage withany one of a series of staples k3 at the inner sides of the pans, bywhich means the inner sides of the 10o pans may be raised and lowered oradjusted to provide more or less opening for the pas'- sage of airdownwardly from the ice-chamber between the inner adjacent sides of saidpans. The inner sides of the pans are preferably placed about eighteento twenty inches the center of the refrigerator, and each pan has ashelf M, made of sheet metal and supported upon wedge-shaped blocks m,secured like vertical partitions transversely within the said pans,which support the said shelves in an inclined position thereon, slopingfrom the center within the edge of the cover-plate L downwardly asuit-able distance from the sides of the said pans to admit of asuitable circulation and passage of air and drip-water around the endsand beneath the said coverplate, the drip-water being thus conducted ina reverse direction over a greatly-extended surface distance to thus aidiircooling the air passing over and around said drip-conveying surfaces,and the inner ends of the shelves M are helda suicient distanceabove theedges l of the inner sidewalls of the pans K to allow the air to passfreely upon the bottom of the pans below the said plates and at theinner adjacent sides thereof down into the central portion and equallythrough entire length of the storage-chamber. y

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentp 1. Arefrigerator comprising a storagechamber, an ice-chamber, air-passageseX- tending from said storage-chamber around the said ice-chamber andpans affixed to the side walls of the storage-chamber to inclinedownwardly toward the central part of said chamber, each havinga shelfinclined down- ,wardly from near the inner to near the outer sides ofsaid pans, substantially as described.

2. A refrigerator comprising a storagechamber, an ice-chamber,air-passages extending froin said storage-chamber around theice-chamber, pans affixed to the side walls of the storage-chambertoineline downwardly toward the central part of said chamber within asuitable distance from each other, each having a shelf inclined fromnear the inner l thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MICHEL WILLETT.

Witnesses:

MARY A. CARROLL, KATE D. MERRILL.

